In the extraordinary session of the National Diet that convened on November 7, following the October 20 election for the House of Representatives, Ryutaro Hashimoto, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, won reelection as prime minister.

The voting for prime minister was conducted in plenary sessions of the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors. Hashimoto won a majority on the first ballot in both houses with the support of legislators belonging to the Social Democratic Party and New Party Sakigake (Harbinger) in addition to his own LDP.

The prime minister immediately started putting together a new cabinet, which was inaugurated on the evening of the 7th. The SDP and Sakigake, which were represented in the previous administration as members of the ruling coalition, decided to remain outside the government this time, though they have entered into a policy agreement with the LDP. The prime minister therefore appointed a cabinet consisting entirely of Liberal Democrats; it is the first single-party LDP administration since August 1993.

Two key members of the new cabinet are reappointees: Minister for Foreign Affairs Yukihiko Ikeda, who will continue to handle such weighty diplomatic issues as the scaling down of the U.S. military bases on Okinawa, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama, who stays on as the principal spokesman for the cabinet. Former Foreign Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka has been named to succeed the SDP's Wataru Kubo as head of the powerful Ministry of Finance, where he will be responsible for the drive to reduce the massive fiscal deficit.

The full lineup of the second Hashimoto cabinet is as follows:(the names of the ministers are followed by their age, house membership, and major posts held to date.)

Prime Minister
Ryutaro Hashimoto (59, reelected)
Twelve-term member of the House of Representatives; Health and Welfare Minister; Transport Minister; Finance Minister; International Trade and Industry Minister.

Justice Minister
Isao Matsuura (73)
Three-term member of the House of Councillors; Chairman, House of Councillors Committee on Local Administration.

Finance Minister
Hiroshi Mitsuzuka (69)
Nine-term member of the House of Representatives; Transport Minister; International Trade and Industry Minister; Foreign Minister.

Education Minister
Takashi Kosugi (61)
Six-term member of the House of Representatives; Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Environment.

Health and Welfare Minister
Jun'ichiro Koizumi (54)
Nine-term member of the House of Representatives; Health and Welfare Minister; Posts and Telecommunications Minister.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Minister
Takao Fujimoto (65)
Ten-term member of the House of Representatives; Director General, Hokkaido Development Agency and Okinawa Development Agency (State Minister); Health and Welfare Minister.

International Trade and Industry Minister
Shinji Sato (64)
Seven-term member of the House of Representatives; Transport Minister.

Transport Minister
Makoto Koga (56)
Six-term member of the House of Representatives; Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Construction.

Posts and Telecommunications Minister
Hisao Horinouchi (71)
Seven-term member of the House of Representatives; Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Minister.

Labor Minister
Yutaka Okano (69)
Three-term member of the House of Councillors; Chairman, House of Councillor Committee on the Cabinet.

Construction Minister
Shizuka Kamei (60)
Seven-term member of the House of Representatives; Transport Minister.

Home Affairs Minister
Katsuhiko Shirakawa (51)
Six-term member of the House of Representatives; Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Posts and Telecommunications.

Chief Cabinet Secretary (State Minister)
Seiroku Kajiyama (70, reappointed)
Nine-term member of the House of Representatives; Home Affairs Minister; International Trade and Industry Minister; Justice Minister.

Director General, Management and Coordination Agency (State Minister)
Kabun Muto (69)
Eleven-term member of the House of Representatives; Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Minister; International Trade and Industry Minister; Foreign Minister.

Director General, Hokkaido Development Agency and Okinawa Development Agency (State Minister)
Jitsuo Inagaki (68)
Seven-term member of the House of Representatives; Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Health and Welfare.

Director General, Defense Agency (State Minister)
Fumio Kyuma (55)
Six-term member of the House of Representatives; Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Transport.

Director General, Science and Technology Agency (State Minister)
Riichiro Chikaoka (70)
Six-term member of the House of Representatives; Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Health and Welfare.

Director General, Environment Agency (State Minister)
Michiko Ishii (63)
Three-term member of the House of Councillors; Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Labor.

Director General, National Land Agency (State Minister)
Kosuke Ito (55)
Six-term member of the House of Representatives; Parliamentary Vice-Minister for the National Land Agency.

(The material herein is based on domestic Japanese news sources and is offered for reference purposes. It does not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government or of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.)